Dehairing machine



Nov. 21, 1950 w, slLBERT 2,531,209

DEHAIRING MACHINE Filed Nov. 30, 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Maxi? INVEN 0R- r 57 WILL/AM ILBERT Filed Nov. 50, 1946 Nov. 21, 1950 w. GILBERT 2,531,209

DEHAIRING MACHINE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 1 'III INVENTOR WILL/AM GILBERT A OBNEY Patented Nov. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE DEHAIRING MACHINE William Gilbert, Richmond Hill, N. Y.

ApplicationNovember 30, 1946, Serial No. 713,229

3 Claims. 1

It is customary in the fur trade to remove the long hairs from fur-bearing skins such as beaver and raccoon skins by rubbing the skin back and forth with a dull knife. This rubbing involves-the hardest kind of manual labor and frequently damages the skin by removing some of the fur and sometimes breaks off the outer ends of the stiff hairs without plucking them but leaving the stiff stubs distributed throughout the fur.

Many different machines have been proposed for performing the plucking action automatically, but so far as I know, after many years of practical experience in the actual work of dehairing skins of the character of beaver and raccoon skins, there has been no satisfactory machine made available for this purpose. Although there have been machines for dehairing or trimming small skins, these beaver and raccoon skins vary greatly in size and in the length of the stiff hairs and cannot be satisfactorily processed by such machines. In fact. the hairs are much longer around certain areas than along other areas, such as the sides or underbody of the same skin. Thus variations in size and in the length and distribution of the stiff hairs make it ver difficult to remove the hairs without damage to the fur or skins.

I have discovered a simple solution of the problem. This embodies the use of a suction and plucking box containing two plucking rollers and having a guard plate with a narrow entrance s ot beneath which is a guide rod or roller for the skin movable toward and from t e slot.

One roller has a resilient gripping surface formed, for instance, with a soft rub er surface.

The other roller has spaced paddle-like gripping jaws distributed throughout the length of the roller which coacts with the surface of the other roller when the rollers rotate.

The e plucking rollers are so driven that they will stop or sli in case a skin should be accidentally drawn into the slot.

The guide rod is so arranged and constructed that the skin to be treated may be drawn back and forth over said guide rod as the rod is moved toward and from the guard plate.

Fig. 1 is a side view of a machine embodying one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a front view of the same machine.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional view Fig. 7 is an end view showing the roller of Fig. 6 and its relation to its companion roller, guard plate and support.

Fig. 8 is a side view of another form of plucking roller.

Fig. 9 is an end view of the same, with its companion roller, guard plate and support,

Fig. 10 shows a side view of another construction of plucking roller.

Fig. 11 is a sectional and end view showing the roller of Fig. 10 and the companion roller, guard plate and support.

Fig. 12 is a side view of another form of plucking roller.

Fig. 13 is an end view and partial section showing the roller of Fig. 12 and its relation to the companion roller, guard plate and support.

Fig. 14 is a side view of another form of plucking roller.

Fig. 15 is an end view of the same showing its relation to the companion roller, guard plate and support.

The plucking box l 0 is supported from any suitable support such as a bench I l and is connected to a source of suction l2. A supporting rod or roller I3 for the skin is mounted beneath plucking rollers l4 and H5 in the box and a guard plate [6 having a central narrow slot i1 is interposed between the roller i3 and plucking rollers.

Roller I5 has a surface formed of resilient rubber or the like and roller M has a series of spaced jaws [8 for gripping and plucking out the hairs which are arranged so as to permit air and hairs to pass between the rollers. They overlap circumferentially so as to ensure a maximum efiiciency of operation and may be arranged helically. These jaws have their gripping surfaces arranged transversely with respect to the direction of rotation so as to exert a direct pull rather than a diagonal pull on the hairs.

One of the rollers, for instance, roller i4 is provided with a shaft extension IS and is driven frictionally by a motor 26 through a belt 2! and pulleys 22 and '23 so that roller It ma stop in case a skin should accidentally get jammed between the rollers.

Guide roller 13 is carried by a frame 24 slidable in a support 25 and is automatically retracted by springs 25, 26 which are compressed'between a beam 21 and the cross bar 28. These springs can be adjusted by means of the nuts 29.

The roller l3 being normally retracted by the springs may be moved toward the guard plate by pressing against the cross bar 28 in any suitable manner, as for instance by means of a treadle 30 which is hinged at 3! and connected by cross bar 28 by means of a rod 32 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A stop 330i suitable size may be used to limit the downward movement of the frame 24, guide .roller l3 and attached parts.

Roller [5 may be adjusted toward and from roller M for instance by screws 34, 34 pressing against bearing blocks 35, 35 which are slidable in the box It]. Springs 36, 36 may be provided if desired to afford resilient abutments for the bearing blocks for roller l5. Cover plates 31 may be provided at each end over the ends of the bearing blocks and adjacent openings on the nds of the box Ill so as to avoid leakage of air into the box at these points.

The edges 38 of the slot in the guard plate in some cases are preferably curved inwardly so as to permit the skin to be brought as close as possible to the gripping surfaces of the plucking rollers especially when treating skins of which the hair is short. It is also desirable in some cases to provide extra means for preventing the skins from getting too close to the plucking members, for instance, cross pieces 39, 39 which in efiect divide the length of the slot into three parts. This may be desirable especially when processing light flexible skins.

In operation, a skin is inserted between the plucking box Ill and the guide roller 13 which is then pushed up toward the guard plate l6 as far as, in the judgment of the operator, it is necessary, in order to bring the hairs on the skin into the bight of the plucking rollers, but not so far as to permit the skin to pass through the guard plate or permit the fur to get caught in the rollers. The skin is then drawn back and forth over the guide roller and manipulated by the operator so that the hair may be drawn in and removed from all parts of the skin and expelled automatically by the machine.

Figs. 6 and 7 show another form of plucking roller composed of a number of members 48 mounted on a shaft 4|. Each plucking member has three jaws :32 spaced circumferentially therearound and each extends from a central web 43 longitudinally of the axis so that the jaws of adjacent members overlap and yet leave plenty of air space between the jaws to facilitate the suction action which draws the hairs in and expels them from the plucking box.

In the form of plucking roller shown in Figs. 8 and 9, the plucking jaws 45 are secured in the roller 66 in any suitable manner and staggered circumferentially therearound and have elongated gripping portions which overlap each other so as to furnish a maximum gripping action and yet afford a maximum air space for suction and removal of the loosened hairs. Such a construction can be used for general dehairing and for processing nutria.

In Figs. and 11, I have shown a roller 41 with plucking jaws 4-8 projecting radially therefrom and which may have shanks screwed into the shaft along lines arranged helically. The heads of these screws may be flattened so as to provide gripping surfaces parallel to the axes of the shaft. Such jaws can be readily inserted and replaced when necessary.

It should be understood that both plucking rollers may have resilient gripping surfaces although it is preferred that one roller have a metallic gripping surface.

In Figs. '12 and 13. I have shown a special modified construction for such furs as muskrat, where the fur and hair are comparatively s ort. The plucking roller 56 herein is hollow and has a number of openin s 5|. It coacts with a resilient surfaced roller 52. In this case the roller iii 50 may be quite small in diameter so as to bring the opening 53 as close as possible to the gripping surfaces of the plucking rollers. The hairs will then be drawn partly through the openings in roller 50 and partly between rollers 59 and 52.

In Figs. 14 and 15, I have shown a helical plucking roller 55 coacting with a rubber coated roller 56. Such a combination is more suitable when used on skins from which the hairs are more easily removed.

It will be understood that skins which have been de-haired by the use of my invention may subsequently be sheared or trimmed to produce a uniform depth of fur.

I claim:

1. A dehairing machine for fur bearing skins comprising a box having two contacting plucking rollers, one of which has a resilient gripping surface and one of which has a series of spaced gripping jaws having gripping surfaces parallel with the axes of the rollers, a guard plate beneath said rollers with a narrow slot beneath the contacting surfaces of the rollers, means for driving one of said rollers, means for adjusting one roller toward the other, a rotatable supporting guide rod, for the skin being operated upon, movable toward and away from the slot in the guard plate, foot actuated means for moving said guide rod, the slot in said plate being so narrow that the skin cannot be pushed into contact with the contacting rollers.

2. A dehairing machine for fur bearing skins comprising a box having two contacting plucking rollers, one of which has a resilient gripping surface and one of which has a series of spaced gripping jaws having gripping surfaces parallel with the axes of the rollers, a guard plate beneath said rollers with a narrow slot beneath the contacting surfaces of the rollers, means for driving one of said rollers, means for adjusting one roller toward the other, a rotatable supporting guide rod for the skin being operated upon, movable toward and away from the slot in the guard plate, means for moving said guide rod, the slot in said guard plate having curved edge walls for facilitating bringing the skin adjacent to the plucking rollers, and spaced cross pieces bridging said slot for preventing the skin from being pushed into direct engagement with said plucking rollers.

3. As an article of manufacture, a plucking roller comprising a shaft having assembled on it a number of annular members, each member having three jaws spaced circumferentially therearound. said members being so arranged on the shaft that the jaws are staggered to provide overlapping paths with air passages between the jaws.

WILLIAM GILBERT.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Num er Name Date 367 200 Dresdner July 26, 1887 487,349 Murphy Dec. 6, 1892 842 939 Cimiotti Feb. 5, 1907 1,487,645 Boesch Mar. 18, 1924 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 23,524 Great .Britain 1906 

